Prison Brides’ Jamal has spent 11 years behind bars trying to prove that he is innocent, and now his wife, Gabriella has joined this crusade.
Lifetime’s new 90 Day Fiancé meets Love After Lockup documentary series, Prison Brides follows the complicated romantic entanglements of international women who found love through the prison pen pal system.
What makes Jamal and Gabriella’s Prison Brides story different
Prison Brides’ most recent episode, “Second-Degree Engagement,” has now introduced us to the German model, Gabriella Moore and her incarcerated partner, Jamal Moore.
But, while Gabriella and Jamal’s love story mimics many of the others that we have already seen recounted on Prison Brides this season, one key detail sets this couple apart.
The men featured on Prison Brides have been incarcerated, and some of them have even been incarcerated for extremely violent crimes.
However, unlike many of the men that we have seen tell their story on the show thus far, Jamal claims that he has been wrongfully convicted and he has actually been working dutifully to clear his name for years.
Prison Brides season 1 so far
Prison Brides officially premiered on Lifetime on January 10, 2024. The show has aired four episodes to date, and has introduced us to seven different couples, including Jamal and Gabriella, who are listed below:
| Episode | Initial air date | Prison Brides couples featured |
| Episode 1 – “A Strange Situation” | January 10, 2024 |
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| Episode 2 – “Proposal on Parole” | January 17, 2024 |
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| Episode 3 – “I’ve Seen Him Naked Now” | January 24, 2024 |
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| Episode 4 – ‘Second Degree Engagement” | January 31, 2024 |
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Prison Brides’ fifth episode is set to premiere on February 7, 2024. This episode is ominously titled “Collateral Damage” and will air in the show’s usual 9:30 p.m. ET or 8:30 p.m. CT timeslot.
The story of Jamal’s conviction
Jamal was convicted of second-degree murder and felony-firearm charges in 2012 after the death of his friend, Carlos Wesley.
However, Jamal and Gabriella claim that this conviction should be overturned, as there was no actual DNA evidence or even a murder weapon found, which could possibly implicate Jamal in this crime.
According to Jamal’s version of events, which Gabriella has been dutifully sharing on his behalf through social media, he was nowhere near the area where the crime took place, and the only reason why he was convicted in the first place was because his mother (who testified against him in the original trial) lied under oath.
If this is true, it would mean that Jamal’s mother’s testimony, whereby she claimed that he had confessed to her that he “messed up” and “killed Carlos”, would no longer implicate him in the case.
Jamal and Gabriella have also been vocal about the fact that one of the recordings of a phone call to his mother was misconstrued by the judge and about the fact that they feel his lawyer did not do enough to try and prove his innocence.
And while Gabriella has stated that they have hard evidence to prove that Jamal’s mother was lying during her testimony, his case has not been overturned yet.
When is Jamal’s expected release date?
When Jamal was convicted on these felony charges in 2012, he was sentenced to 22 to 40 years in prison. At the time, he was only 17 years old.
This means that even if Jamal only serves his minimum sentence, he will be 39 years old when he gets out of prison (in about nine years’ time).
This also means that he would have spent more of his life in prison than he had spent on the outside, upon his release. If he ends up serving the full forty years, he will be nearly sixty by the time he gets out.
What does this mean for the future of Jamal and Gabriella’s relationship?
Having to wait another nine to 29 years to actually start a relationship in the real world is certainly not ideal. But Jamal and Gabriella seemingly still have every intention of making their unconventional romance work.
Per Jamal’s Instagram page, he and Gabriella recently decided to take their relationship to the next level by officially tying the knot.
However, Gabriella has been very open about the fact that she cannot afford to bankroll Jamal’s appeals process and that she has decided not to move to the United States for now.
So it may still be a while before Jamal and Gabriella can celebrate their nuptials outside of prison walls.
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